Accountability - one road to success in education
It is well known that the number one facet of success in school is parental involvement. Looking at the story below, it does seem that the educational system has taken it to heart and enforcing it. From STACLU:
Your Governments Schools In Action….Actually, This Sorta Makes Sense
When I first caught the brief news blurb on this story, it made me think of the Nanny State and how they force involvement. Second thought, maybe this isn’t too badINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis elementary school treats parental involvement just like homework - and if a student’s parents fail to meet strict expectations, their child can be shipped to another school.
Indianapolis Public School 57, the city’s only so-called “fundamental school,” requires parents to sign their children’s homework every day, volunteer at the school and respond to teachers’ calls or notes within 24 hours.
Teachers sign similar agreements, and the school’s 210 students have strict rules, too, The Indianapolis Star reported. If students don’t turn in homework for several days, for example, they can earn enough demerits to kick them out of the school.
Students living in several east side neighborhoods are automatically assigned to School 57, but those who don’t agree with the rules can transfer to another school with no questions asked.Parents having to be be involved with their children’s schooling if they want their kids to stay in the school? Homework has to be turned in? Excellent! On the flip side, it says something about our education system and many parents that they have to be forced to be involved with their kids’ education, eh?
My problem is exactly that - the parents. Look, I rag on unions and the education-industrial complex (did you know that we really do spend more overall on education than on the military [war expenses exempted]), but it is true that having the parents deeply involved in their childrens' school work is the major indicator of success - and that cost is a zero dollar expenditure. What it does cost is major time involvement of the parents (and in no small way, the school system in checking).
I do like the accountability factor - and it seems three-way: students, parents, teachers.
Now, if we knew what their curriculum was too....
Comments
Posted by: Fred Baldwin | March 1, 2009 8:37 PM